TOKYO (AP) -Formula One title leader Lewis Hamilton is confident he can extend his lead over rival Felipe Massa by defending his Japanese Grand Prix title Sunday.
The McLaren driver looked set to win last year's F1 drivers' title in his first season after winning at a rain-soaked Fuji Speedway, but relinquished his 12-point lead in the final two races.
``I feel a lot stronger this year than I did at this time last year,'' Hamilton said Wednesday. ``We have three races left and we'll do everything we can as a team to come out on top.''
Hamilton has 84 points, seven more than Ferrari's Massa, and another win in Japan would put the British driver in a position to clinch the championship next week at Shanghai.
Massa is coming off a disastrous 13th-place finish at Singapore last month, but isn't ready to concede anything.
``We are seven points behind, but there are 30 points in front of us so we will fight to the last lap of the last race,'' the Brazilian said.
In Singapore, the Ferrari driver pulled away from a pit stop prematurely, taking the fuel rig with him up pit lane. Massa subsequently dropped from the lead to 18th and last place, then incurred a drive-through penalty for an ``unsafe release from a pit stop.''
Defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen, Massa's Ferrari teammate, is looking to end his run of four races without points, while denying Hamilton a chance to build on his lead.
``It hasn't been the type of season I was expecting,'' Raikkonen said. ``Things started out OK, but the last four or five races have not been good. For myself, it is more or less over, but I'll do the best for the team.''
Raikkonen is fourth in the standings, trailing Hamilton by 27 points and BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica in third by seven.
Last year's race at Fuji Speedway was hampered by heavy rain and organizers say while there may be wet weather for Saturday's qualifying, the forecast was more promising for Sunday's race.
